Spiral

Disclaimer: I don’t own DB/Z/GT or any of the characters found in this fic. They are the property of TOEI ANIMATION in Japan and FUNimation in the U.S.A. I am making no profit from this work of fanfiction.

Warnings: Rated R for language, pain and violence. If you don’t care for that sort of thing, don’t read any more of this story. (And I have to wonder how you came this far. O.o )

BDSM (bondage [tied up], sadistic/masochism [I like giving pain/I like receiving pain]).

And finally yaoi lime reference: men having sex with men. G/V.

A/N: A HUGE thank you goes out to Pixelgoddess for betaing this final chapter. Thank you Pixelgoddess for taking time out of your very busy schedule to do this for me. ::bows::

Another thank you goes to anz, who continued to be my sounding board even after I wore her out from chapter 5. Thank you anz!

Epilogue - Breathing Space


He awoke with practiced slowness. It was the hum of the generators that first caught his attention. The sound had become amazingly familiar in the last nine months. It let him know what circumstances he was waking to.

And to think, at one point in his life, he had hoped to never hear it again.

Sensation came next. His body was surrounded by oppressive warmth. It begged one to stay lethargic. Stretch and twist if you must, but stay asleep. It was safe here.

Practice had made perfect, and he had fallen back into the routine of checking out his surroundings before he let his heartbeat fluctuate. Breathing stayed minimal as he continued to let the machine and the liquid do their jobs.

He let his awareness flow away from him, bringing him data from tell-tale shifts of others it came in contact with. Who was in the room with him? What type of emotions were they expressing?

Kakarott was close, but his aura was steadfast, as it had been for the last three months. The third class had finally evened out. Sure there was the occasional variation, but it had become very rare.

To the prince’s surprise, his mate was close by. Bulma lacked the control Kakarott had gained, and he could read distress and anger in her countenance. She was concerned about something, and if she were here, then that something probably had to do with him. Vegeta stayed a growl. No need to announce he was awake. He would let Kakarott deal with it.


~o0o~


“He’s fine Bulma. Just a little heavy training. Your model of the regeneration tanks is awesome.” A little bit of Goku cringed at telling his life-long friend even that much of a white lie, but he quashed it quickly.

In a rare show of nervousness Bulma wrung her hands. “You’re sure? You guys have been doing an awful lot of training, even for you.”

Goku resisted the urge to growl. Even if he was lying, who did this b…woman think she was to question him? “I have senzus, also. If he had been in real trouble, I would have given him one.”

Bulma stepped away from the doorway, head bowed to the side. “Okay, Goku. You do know I am trusting you a great deal? Don’t you?” she asked as she looked back up.

“And I am asking you to trust me. If he were in any mortal danger, I would take him to Dende immediately.” Goku touched his forehead for emphasis.

Bulma tried to give a bright smile, but it fell short of the real thing. She decided to change tactics before leaving. “How are you and Chichi?”

Now Goku did growl, “The same.” He did not want to go over this again with his childhood friend.

Bulma received the message loud and clear. “Um…Okay.” She easily resisted the urge to keep asking questions on the touchy subject. She was bright enough to know she was better off not pressing a super sayian into a discussion he did not wish to have. Playing marriage counselor for her best friend was not worth being killed over.

She finally gathered up enough courage to ask the question she had really come to ask. “Do you know when he will come back?”

Goku shifted his attention enough to look at the information the regeneration tank’s panel was giving, but it really had no bearing on his answer. He turned back to the woman on their doorstep. “I am not his keeper. He will come back to Capsule Corporation whenever he chooses.”

Frustrated, Bulma spoke before thinking, “I should have never built that damn regeneration tank!”


Bulma had not been certain what to think when Vegeta had come back to Capsule Corporation after his camping trip and demanded she start working on a regeneration chamber. She had thrown up all sorts of roadblocks, not wanting another project on her plate. Especially with her due date so near.

“We have senzu beans for injuries.”

“You know there are occasions when there aren’t enough. Times when the crops fail, or have low yields,” Vegeta stated.

“Then there is Dende!” Bulma retaliated.

“I am not going to him every time I 'm severely injured, woman. Besides, if Kakarott isn't available, I'll have no convenient way to get to the Guardian should I be injured badly enough to warrant his healing.”

“Even if I could build a chamber, I don’t have the bio-technology it would take to make the healing fluid. That could take a decade just to create,” Bulma groaned. Was she seriously thinking about doing this?

“I thought you loved a challenge woman. Isn’t that why I’m still here?”

Bulma laughed, “You’ve managed to go way beyond being a challenge. You’re an enigma I just can’t seem to let go of.” She was caught off guard when Vegeta smiled at her statement.

Her common-law husband’s features quickly returned to their customary scowl. “If you had a sample, would you be able to synthesize it?” He gave a small chuckle when she had gaped at him. “I thought I’d give this to you instead of your father.” The prince held something out in his hand, and Bulma could not make her gaze turn elsewhere.

She snatched the small vial of greenish liquid out of the prince’s hand so fast she was certain he had trouble following the movement. “What is this? Where did you get it?” she asked as she got up, already heading towards the microscope in the next lab.

“It’s starter for a regeneration tank. This particular one is designed for sayians. I got it from what was left of Radditz’ ship.”

The scientist stopped in her tracks in order to turn and look at Vegeta. “There was hardly anything left of that ship once I was through with it.”

Vegeta shrugged, “You missed a couple of things that didn’t seem to have anything to do with technology.”

They passed through the exit of Bulma’s lab and in through the entrance of the next one over; her father’s personal lab. Scratch came bounding off one of the shelves onto Bulma’s shoulders. She squeaked as she almost dropped the vial. “SCRATCH!” she yelled.

The cat dropped to the floor, mewled up at her, and then, spying Vegeta, hissed and spat, before taking off to one of the darker corners in the lab. “Wonder why the pest isn’t with your father?” the prince remarked.

Bulma shrugged, but did not otherwise respond as she started getting slides, test tubes and various other things set up around the microscope. “This is going to take a while,” she said over her shoulder before realizing she was alone.

Vegeta had departed from the room.


“It’s been two months since he has felt like it. His daughter is growing up without her father, just as his son did. She took her first steps two weeks ago. She’s said ‘G’pa’. She doesn’t even know what ‘daddy’ means!”

This news tugged at Goku’s heart, and the reaction made him think, as little else had in the last few months. He turned his head to look in Vegeta’s direction again, before turning back to his blue-haired friend. “I will see what I can do,” he said, feeling some lessening of the anger he had felt at her minutes earlier.

Bulma’s smile lingered like lightening. There was a flash and it blinded him to anything else for a few heart-breaking moments. He had not seen anyone so happy with him for…well, more than nine months.

When Goku had finally gotten his response under control, she had already left. He shut the door quietly, and the room was rendered dark as fast as it closed.

“And what exactly have you been up to for two months if we have only been here for a week, Vegeta?” he asked the prince’s floating form.


~o0o~


Good. Whatever had transpired between them, Kakarott had convinced Bulma to leave. She did not belong here. He thought he had made that abundantly clear to both of them. He had paid for this building and the land it was on out of his own pocket specifically so the woman would not think she was welcome any time she damn well chose.

Faint vibrations in the liquid around him told him Kakarott was moving before there was an incessant tapping on the one plexiglass window of the regeneration tank. He heard muffled words being spoken, but he could not understand them.

“Come on Vegeta. We both know I know you are awake.” Goku tapped at the glass again.

Vegeta growled before he opened his eyes. He read the message Kakarott plastered across the window. ~We need to talk~ Vegeta avoided the urge to roll his eyes. Some behaviors even ‘Goku’ would not tolerate while they were in seclusion.

Vegeta nodded his head indicating he understood, and Kakarott with his sign disappeared from view. A moment later a ‘clank’ reverberated through the chamber as the drainage process was started from outside. The prince set his feet preparing for gravity to take its full affect.

Reaching behind his head to un-strap the oxygen mask from his face, he shivered as fresh air filtered into the open space the denser-than-water liquid left behind. It was a cold sensation against his damp skin.

He knocked on the door as the last of the healing fluid left the chamber. He had just enough time to cover his ears before Kakarott released the locks. “Fucking echo-y bitch,” Vegeta cursed the cell before Kakarott had opened the door fully.

He stopped short of stepping out of the chamber when he noticed more photos on the floor in front of him, leading all the way to the shower. He razed them with a low-level ki blast before he took his first step, but that did not mean his keen eyes had not seen what had been put on display.

“Why do you insist on doing that?” Vegeta asked the room at large. Kakarott was nowhere to be seen.

“I find it fascinating we engage in behavior that disgusts you so much you can’t look at the evidence of it.” Kakarott’s voice was ambiguous and no help in pinpointing where exactly the third class was in the room.

Vegeta had stopped playing the game of ‘find Goku’ almost as soon as it had started. It was wasted energy. Kakarott would show himself when he felt like it, and no sooner. The prince still had no idea how a super sayian was able to hide in a room that was so bare.

The elite shivered again as he stepped further towards his destination. Wherever he was, Vegeta would bet Kakarott’s gaze was purely predatory. He slid the shower curtain aside and started the water. Another clue to help him know what frame of mind Kakarott was in. If Goku had been in one of his ‘cuddly’ moods, the shower would have already been started.

“Leave it open,” Kakarott suggested from his hiding place as Vegeta started to close the curtain after the water was hot enough.

Vegeta smirked into a corner of the stall as he reached for the soap on the shelf. “Didn’t see enough sights while I was in the chamber?”

There was a deep growl before Kakarott answered. “You aren’t animated when you are in there…Mr. Sleep-for-days. It does give me a lot of time to meditate though.”

“You should get out while I am healing then,” Vegeta suggested saliently. “Your sons would probably love to see their dad.”

There was no time to react. One moment he was lathering up the soap, the next his skull was cracking against the tiles of the west wall. “You’d fucking better keep your interest in my life outside these walls to yourself.”

Vegeta kept his eyes low. He was at fault here, and he knew it. He’d broken one of the many rules, although…this time it was not on purpose. “Okay.”

“What?” Kakarott’s elbow pressed deeper into his throat and forced him up the wall until his feet no longer met the floor.

“Yes!” Vegeta detested the fact one of the rules was he was not to ascend. The room was not built to hold a struggle between two super sayians. If he wanted Kakarott’s participation, he had to knowingly keep his ki lower than the third class’s. It had taken him months (and four expensive buildings) to will himself to agree to it. He mollified himself that he was now a borderline level three outside the room. It was just a matter of time before he could make that ascension.

The pressure left his throat. “Bulma came by,” Kakarott informed him as he caught his balance.

Vegeta kept the knowledge he knew she had been here to himself. Some habits die hard, and this was one he refused to let go. “What did she want? Wait let me guess. ‘When is he coming home?’ Right?” he asked as he started apply suds to his hair. The damn liquid was too tough for most shampoos to cut through.

He rinsed his hair quickly as Kakarott remained silent. He opened his eyes to find Kakarott leaning against the south wall. “She had a different twist on it this time.”

One of Vegeta’s brows rose on its own. Something had gotten to Goku. He was dwelling on it too much. “What did she tell you?”

“She said Bra knew how to say ‘G’pa’ and that she had taken her first steps two weeks ago.” Kakarott pulled away from the wall and picked the soap up from the floor. He handed the bar to Vegeta before he reached his hands over the other’s head to get them wet.

Speech left him. Vegeta dutifully bent his head when Kakarott pulled on his bangs. Water droplets fell from the tip of his nose. He winced when Kakarott’s searching fingers found the knot hitting the wall had created. The pain was enough to finally get his mouth working again, “She’s not out of diapers yet?”

“I don’t know Vegeta. It was a short conversation.” Kakarott finally finished his physical inspection. “Look up.” Vegeta saw a finger raised and focused on it. Without prompting he followed it with his eyes only. After a few moments, the other smiled. “Well, seems like you don’t have a concussion.”

“Hn.” Vegeta responded before applying soap to his skin. ‘It’d take more than a tiled wall you moron.’ He kept the thought to himself. “Well, I suspect this is what you wanted to talk about, so talk.”

“I think you need to go back. Be with your family. Give Bra a chance to know her father,” Goku stated. Both he and Vegeta had been lax when it came to parenting Trunks and Goten…

“I’m not ready,” Vegeta stated as he bent to wash his legs.

“You’re going to be here by yourself then,” Goku warned.

“And where exactly are you going to go?” Vegeta asked. This was the only place Kakarott felt comfortable for any length of time.

Goku sighed. The prince had a point, but he wasn’t ready to give in so easily. “I’ll be here three days out of the month. The rest of my plans are not your business.”

Vegeta placed the soap back on its ledge. “This still isn’t enough to keep me from wandering.” He was a bit surprised when Goku looked away from him.

“You do this, and I’ll…finally...” the younger trailed off quietly. He turned his head back just in time to catch Vegeta’s reaction.

The prince’s body tensed and his eye became penetrating. “How long?” He suppressed a smirk. He hadn't been able to get Goku to come this close to conceding before. There had to be a catch.

Goku thought for a moment. He had held this trump card for a long time. Now he had found the right time to use it. “Three years. You give your family three years, with the exception of three days out of every month. Then…”

Vegeta closed his eyes. At least with this offer, he had a time frame. Better than not knowing at all. “That’s an awfully long time, Kakarott.”

“It’s less than a tenth of either of our lifetimes, Vegeta,” Kakarott pointed out.

Vegeta turned and shut the water off. “When will those three days be?”

“You’ll know,” Goku hinted.

Goku followed Vegeta out of the stall and they both flared their ki enough to dry off. Vegeta lost sight of the other when he went to go get his clothing from his locker. He was just about to pull his shirt over his head when a gentle touch on his shoulder had him tensing up. “Stop touching me like you care,” he growled from clenched teeth. When the other removed his hand he finished pulling the garment on.

He turned to find a fully dressed Goku in his normal form. “Don’t forget to lock it up,” Goku reminded him with a tilt of his head.

Vegeta grunted and stalked over to a hidden wall panel. He pressed the codes to make it secure before he turned to the door where Goku was waiting to leave.

“Three years, Kakarott,” Vegeta reminded the other as he exited from the building.

Goku closed the door behind them and pressed his own codes for the main door. “Three years.” He refused to look at the other.

Vegeta grunted in disgust. As soon as those doors were closed the idiot reverted instantaneously. He took off without another word.

Goku sighed before he turned to a well-worn path through the clearing. “Hopefully you will someday understand I am doing this because I care.” His one moment of indulging his sayian nature had cost him his wife and therefore contact with his youngest son.


“Where in the Holy Hells have you been?” Chichi screeched as soon as Goku came in the front door.

The young sayian had been so focused on his memories (what little there were) of the last day and a half, he had totally forgotten to brace himself for the confrontation coming home was going to be.

With his guard down, he also forgot to reign in his natural reaction, which was to growl at the asp in front of him. She obviously had no instinct for self-preservation if she was going to yell at him as if he were no more dangerous than a garter snake.

“I told you I was going to spar,” Goku stated as he bared his teeth at his wife.

The woman finally showed some sensibility and took a faltering step back. It was predictably short lived though. “Looks more like you’ve been a straying cat when you come home half dressed and blood running down your chest.”

The accuracy of Chichi’s venomous accusation was devastating to Goku; her redundant argument finally had justifiable leverage. He had been so intent on being somewhere ‘safe’ that he had not even stopped to retrieve his weighted clothing, nor had he bothered to bathe. The quick stop by Korin’s had been an automated response; something he did when he was out of senzus.

Now that she had pointed it out he noticed evidence was all over him. He reeked of Vegeta. The smell itself was enough to bring back current memories of bones breaking beneath his hands, and morals toppling from their foundations.

The Viper was quick to notice the differences in Goku’s body language. Her words had caused him to go from aggressive snarling to guilty whimpering in unprecedented weakness. “You didn’t,” she hissed. The normalcy he had hoped to find in returning home was shown to be the fragile myth it really was.

Before Goku could defend his indiscretion there was a small interruption. “Mama?” Goten hollered from the back door. “Can I stay over at Trunks’?” Goku heard the clatter of the screen door shutting. He swallowed hard. He didn’t want his son to see him. Not like this.

“No. Go to Gohan’s,” Chichi instructed as she reached behind her.

Goten came around the corner. “Gohan’s?” He asked just as he saw his parents. Goku watched as his child’s eyes grew to three times their normal size. “Mama?”

Goku tried to relax. “Have a sleep over at Gohan’s, Goten. Mama and I need to talk.”

Goten’s lower lip quivered, but he nodded his head. “Okay,” he said.


It had been the last time in nine months Goku had seen his son.

Chichi had scoffed when he tried to explain what had happened. To her hypnotism was just a circumstantial justification for something Goku had wanted to happen all along; in her mind he had done the deed because he wanted to. He was guilty of being an adulterer. He was to blame for having put himself in a situation where Vegeta could do this to him. There was to be no forgiveness or leniency from his ex-wife. He was to get out, and not come back. And being the obvious pervert that he was, he was not to make contact with their son.

And if he did? She would tell Bulma what kind of back stabbing, conniving sneak she had for a ‘best friend.’


It hurt that many of the things she said were true. He had put too much trust in Vegeta, because he’d admittedly had more than just friendly feelings for the only other of his race. Vegeta had turned what he had thought at the time was a verbal altercation into a skillfully mastered negotiation, and in the end, Goku had willingly sealed the deal.

Goku had had a lot of time to think about what had happened since then. His need for the comfort of normalcy and safety were because he had been in shock. Why he thought his abusive wife represented ‘safe’ eluded him now. He finally understood why he had thought she would be a refuge of normalcy; she was the malevolence that he had become habituated to.

If he had not been in shock, Vegeta would not have been able to manipulate him so easily. There were days he berated himself for having been so weak and confused at the time to not see what Vegeta was doing; using his own pride at being able to overcome any challenge as a weapon against him. Goku still wanted Vegeta to hurt for the chaos the prince had opened his eyes to.

And the reason for his shock…was because Vegeta had raped him.

Of course, neither his wife nor the elite chose to see it that way. “Selfish pricks.”

Goku walked from the clearing without looking back.

A/N: Story two of this series ‘Jaded’ will follow…sometime.


I thank everyone who supported and followed this story: chibi vegeta, Pixelgoddess, anz, Robin, Camaro, chayron, BrucesGirl, Chibi_Hoshi, YuehKitsune, Webtester01, vegetachik7, Tyrana, Chole, Saiyan_Bride, Irol, gypsywraith, kahlannightwing, XeroSky, Ginia, GutterBall, Tora & Wendy.

If I have forgotten anyone, my deepest apologies.

Thank you all!